Sociology Midterm

1\.The __________ perspective emphasizes the social contexts in which people live.

a. societal

b. sociological

c. natural sciences

d. ethnocentric

b Sociological

2\. __________ is the study of society and human behavior.

a. Positivism

b. Science

c. Psychology

d. Sociology

d. Sociology

3\. __________ is credited as being the founder of sociology.

a. Auguste Comte

b. W. E. B. Du Bois

c. Karl Marx

d. Jane Addams

a. Auguste Comte

4\. Ben is a sociologist applying the scientific method to the social world. Even though his methods are more modern, as a sociologist he knows that studying the social world in this way originated with __________.

a. Auguste Rodin

b. Auguste Comte

c. Emile Weber

d. Emile Durkheim

b. Auguste Comte

5\. The __________ uses objective, systematic observations to test theories.

a. naturalistic method

b. commonsense method

c. scientific method

d. research-free technique

c. scientific method

6\. Karl Marx believed that __________ was the most relevant factor in history.

a. democracy

b. communism

c. reconciliation

d. class conflict

d. class conflict

7\. Durkheim’s concept of __________ refers to how much people are tied to their social groups.

a. social integration

b. revolution

c. conflict theory

d. religion

a. social integration

8\. As Durkheim was able to do when he studied suicide, sociologists can __________.

a. prove prior research has been inaccurate

b. predict what is likely to happen based on their research

c. insist on a tenured professorship d. question authority

b. predict what is likely to happen

9\. According to Max Weber, the key factor in society is __________.

a. economics

b. politics

c. religion

d. tradition

c. religion

10\. When did sociology first take root in the United States?

a. the middle of the eighteenth century

b. the late nineteenth century

c. the middle of the twentieth century

d. the early twenty-first century

b. the late nineteenth century

11\. Why do women not figure more prominently among early sociologists?

a. There were no early female sociologists.

b. Once sociology became a recognized academic discipline, men in academic positions decided that women engaged in social reform were not legitimate sociologists.

c. In no field has sexism been more evident than in sociology.

d. The field of sociology seemed neither rigorous enough nor

relevant enough to attract women.

b. Once sociology became a recognized academic discipline, men in academic positions decided that women engaged in social reform were not legitimate sociologists.

12\. The work of W. E. B. Du Bois, an African American, __________.

a. was recognized as an important part of the foundations of sociology from the earliest times

b. has been completely ignored until the present

c. was rejected by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

d. is recognized as important by contemporary sociologists

d. is recognized as important by contemporary sociologists

13\. W. E. B. Du Bois __________.

a. was primarily a novelist

b. collected and interpreted the work of others rather than making original contributions

c. became a revolutionary Marxist and moved to Ghana

d. had the good fortune to grow up in an era virtually free of racism

c. became a revolutionary Marxist and moved to Ghana

14\. Early sociologist and social reformer Jane Addams __________.

a. fought against the American Civil Liberties Union

b. won the Nobel Peace Prize

c. married W. E. B. Du Bois

d. never joined the American Sociological Society

b. won the Nobel Peace Prize

15\. Talcott Parsons was influential in __________.

a. shifting sociology from reform to theory

b. warning Americans about the power elite

c. developing concrete models for social change

d. shifting sociology from theory to reform

a. shifting sociology from reform to theory

16\. Perhaps ahead of the times, __________ warned of the dangers of the coalescing interests of the top leaders of business, politics, and the military.

a. Talcott Parsons

b. Ernest Burgess

c. Jane Addams

d. Wright Mills

d. Wright Mills

17\. Who is the audience for basic sociology?

a. only those who deal with the most intimate policy matters

b. only those who deal with the most intricate policy questions

c. anyone and everyone

d. natural scientists as opposed to social scientists

d. natural scientists as opposed to social scientists

18\. Pure sociologists analyze some aspect of society to __________.

a. make changes in the world

b. gain knowledge for its own sake

c. solve problems for the betterment of society

d. get grants for their departments

b. gain knowledge for its own sake

19\. __________ harnesses the sociological perspective for the \\n public good.

a. Basic sociology

b. Experimental sociology

c. Classical sociology

d. Public sociology

d. Public sociology

20\. In __________, symbols are the key to understanding how we look at the world and communicate with each other.

a. functional analysis

b. symbolic interactionism

c. conflict theory

d. order theory

b. symbolic interactionism

21\. Applying symbolic interactionism, as divorce became more common, divorce became __________.

a. more stigmatized

b. a symbol of failure

c. associated with new beginnings d. a symbol of success

c. associated with new beginnings

22\. Charles was studying symbolic interactionism in his sociology class. Charles was surprised to find that sociologists who take this viewpoint think that having love as the central reason for people to get married __________.

a. prevents spouses from blaming each other

b. actually may cause a weakening of the marriage

c. makes divorce all but impossible

d. actually may cause a strengthening of the marriage

b. actually may cause a weakening of the marriage

23\. Robert Merton would say negative results of people’s actions are __________.

a. functions

b. dysfunctions

c. latent functions

d. balancing functions

b. dysfunctions

24\. __________ operates at the microsociological level.

a. Symbolic interactionism

b. Functional analysis

c. Anthropology

d. Conflict theory

a. Symbolic interactionism

25\. In __________, the focus is on the struggle for scarce resources by different groups in society.

a. functional analysis

b. classical sociology

c. conflict theory

d. symbolic interactionism

c. conflict theory

26\. Common sense __________.

a. is never true

b. has always been false

c. may or may not be true

d. has finally caught up with sociology

c. may or may not be true

27\. What is the first step in the research model?

a. reviewing the literature

b. sharing the results

c. beginning the case study

d. choosing the subject matter

d. choosing the subject matter

28\. A(n) __________ predicts a relationship between or among variables.

a. research design

b. literature review c. hypothesis

d. aggregate

c. hypothesis

29\. Sharon had spent months carrying out her sociological experiments. She had collected a ton of data. What was Sharon’s next step?

a. Analyze the results.

b. Generate more hypotheses.

c. Select another topic.

d. Share the results.

a. Analyze the results.

30\. __________ is a precise way to measure a variable.

a. Reliability

b. Validity

c. The hypothesis

d. An operational definition

d. An operational definition

31\. Which of the following is a research method?

a. ensuring validity

b. operationalizing the definition

c. divining an answer

d. using unobtrusive measures

d. using unobtrusive measures

32\. __________ is the extent to which an operational definition measures what it is intended to measure.

a. A variable

b. Validity

c. Hypothesis

d. Reliability

b. Validity

33\. Reliability refers to __________.

a. consistency of results

b. secondary analysis

c. how close the data we gathered comes to proving what we want to prove

d. the way in which a researcher measures a variable

a. consistency of results

34\. The __________ is made up of people who are in the portion of the population being studied.

a. sample

b. control group

c. respondent

d. average

a. sample

35\. When you select a sample for a sociological study, your aim is to get __________.

a. everyone in the population

b. your friends to be the sample

c. a representative sample

d. a different individual to answer each item on the questionnaire

c. a representative sample

36\. In a __________, everyone in the target population has the same chance of being included in the study.

a. stratified random sample

b. random sample

c. sample of any sort

d. survey

b. random sample

37\. __________ are the people who respond to a survey.

a. Researchers

b. Respondents

c. Interviewers

d. Populations

b. Respondents

38\. Which of the following is an example of an open-ended question?

a. Should public officials who accept bribes be jailed?

b. In your opinion, should public officials who accept bribes be required to perform community service?

c. Should public officials who have been convicted for accepting bribes be registered in a public list in the same manner that sex offenders are registered?

d. What do you think should be done to a public official who accepts bribes?

d. What do you think should be done to a public official who accepts bribes?

39\. To get people to answer in their own words, interviewers often use __________ questions.

a. structured

b. controlled

c. open-ended

d. closed-ended

c. open-ended

40\. Survey questions that provide options for answers are considered __________.

a. closed-ended questions

b. unstructured

c. open-ended questions

d. unfair

a. closed-ended questions

1\. The language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and objects passed from one generation to the next make up a group’s __________.

a. identity

b. ethnocentrism

c. culture

d. material culture

c. culture

2\. __________ would be part of material culture.

a. Hairstyles

b. Language

c. Beliefs

d. Values

a. Hairstyles

3\. Nonmaterial culture refers to a group’s __________.

a. art

b. weapons

c. ways of thinking and doing

d. eating utensils

c. ways of thinking and doing

4\. One thing that can be said about material culture is that __________.

a. it is “natural”

b. it includes gestures

c. it includes a people’s language

d. there is nothing “natural” about it

d. there is nothing “natural” about it

5\. Who is ethnocentric?

a. everyone

b. westerners over 50, but not under 50

c. just those easterners who live in the Carolinas

d. older people only

a. everyone

6\. To try to understand a culture on its own terms is called __________.

a. ethnocentrism

b. cultural relativism

c. folklore

d. cultural education

b. cultural relativism

7\. Which of the following statements about cultural relativism is true?

a. It has not been criticized by social scientists

b. Cultural relativism has come under attack because it can lead to acceptance of practices like genital cutting and wife beating

c. Sociologists accept all cultures, without judgment.

d. Cultural relativism encourages cultural smugness.

b. Cultural relativism has come under attack because it can lead to acceptance of practices like genital cutting and wife beating.

8\. After a fairly short plane ride from New York City, Irving found himself on a dusty road with goats, chickens, and motor scooters rather than cars. Food, clothing, and carpets were being sold by street vendors, some of whom worked from a cloth spread on the ground, in no order that he could recognize. Irving was likely experiencing __________.

a. ethnocentrism

b. culture shock

c. a step back into history

d. contact with people who shared none of his values

b. culture shock

9\. Another term for nonmaterial culture that sociologists use is __________.

a. material culture

b. symbolic culture

c. gestural culture

d. culture shock

b. symbolic culture

10\. An advantage of knowing a culture’s gestures is __________.

a. they are closely tied to the language

b. that although most gestures are recognized as universal, differences occasionally occur between cultures

c. being able to communicate with simplicity

d. that they will enable you to completely understand the culture

c. being able to communicate with simplicity

11\. The main way people communicate is through __________. a. gestures

b. intermarriage

c. language

d. artwork

c. language

12\. The basis of culture is __________.

a. customs

b. heredity

c. language

d. sociology

c. language

13\. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that __________.

a. languages are universal

b. some languages, such as English, are superior to others

c. perception and language are unrelated \\n d. language has ways of looking at the world embedded within it

d. language has ways of looking at the world embedded within it

14\. People’s __________ have to do with what they think is appropriate in life.

a. values

b. mores

c. taboos

d. folkways

a. values

15\. A term for rules of behavior is __________.

a. culture

b. norms

c. moral holidays

d. sanctions

b. norms

16\. When you break norms, you receive __________.

a. positive sanctions

b. a day in class

c. negative sanctions

d. hugs and kisses

c. negative sanctions

17\. Paul loved to party at Mardi Gras, even if he was not involved in making a float or anything else. The atmosphere on the street was just so different, so easy. He had a great time. At such a __________, the rules were loosened.

a. culture-free event

b. police-free event

c. free-for-all

d. moral holiday

d. moral holiday

18\. When someone is jogging on the left side of the sidewalk and you, running faster, overtake that person on his or her right, this runs counter to a __________ in the United States. a. taboo

b. more

c. tradition

d. folkway

d. folkway

19\. If you kill another person, you have violated a society’s__________.

a. mores

b. incidental values

c. folkways

d. ethnocentrism

a. mores

20\. Even just the thought of the violation of a __________ fills us with revulsion.

a. taboo

b. more

c. parking regulation

d. folkway

a. taboo

21\. A distinct world within the overarching culture is a __________.

a. superculture

b. subculture

c. miniculture

d. monoculture

b. subculture

22\. How many subcultures does U.S. society contain?

a. five

b. almost ninety

c. hundreds

d. thousands

d. thousands

23\. Some of the values and norms of a __________ place it at odds

with the dominant culture.

a. subculture

b. core culture

c. counterculture

d. sociologists’ group

c. counterculture

24\. Harold got up early and cleaned and polished his motorcycle, while Fabienne packed a picnic lunch. Their destination was a park on a lake about 50 miles away, where they would meet some friends who also liked to ride motorcycles on weekends. They soon got underway, driving safely on the highway at the speed limit and enjoying the trip while they listened to National Public Radio. About halfway to their destination, Harold and Fabienne were overtaken by a speeding clump of about 10 motorcycles ridden by people with swastikas on the backs of their jackets. Several of the group appeared to be completely nude under their jackets, which was legal in their state due to an anachronistic law that said you could not disrobe outdoors, but that did not address the situation where you were already disrobed when you arrived outdoors. In all likelihood, Harold and Fabienne could be termed members of a motorcycle-enthusiast __________, and the cyclists who passed them could be termed members of a motorcycle-enthusiast __________.

a. culture; subculture

b. subculture; counterculture

c. subculture; culture

d. counterculture; subculture

b. subculture; counterculture

25\. A society made up of many different groups is called a(n)

__________.

a. pluralistic society

b. fragmented society

c. anachronous society

d. ungovernable aggravation

a. pluralistic society

26\. Sociologists call the values held by most of the groups in a society __________.

a. core values

b. taboos

c. habitual values

d. universal values

a. core values

27\. The core value of education has __________.

a. been easily pursued in the United States because college students are uninhibited

b. changed to the point where nowadays a college education is thought to be a reasonable aim for most students in the United States

c. not been held by most Americans since the 1960s

d. changed over the years, until today a college education is considered an appropriate goal only for a small number of Americans

b. changed to the point where nowadays a college education is thought to be a reasonable aim for most students in the United States

28\. Most Americans feel that the only proper basis for marriage is \\n __________.

a. parental approval

b. economics

c. mutual respect

d. romantic love

d. romantic love

29\. “In God We Trust” appears on money in the United States. This reflects the core value of __________.

a. group superiority

b. religiosity

c. education

d. freedom

b. religiosity

30\. If you study hard to get a degree so you can get a good job and afford a nice home and car, you could be said to be bound up in __________.

a. a confused approach to life

b. a value contradiction

c. a value cluster pertaining to success

d. the value of democracy

c. a value cluster pertaining to success

31\. A __________ exists between the value of group superiority and the values of freedom, democracy, and equality.

a. continuity

b. folkway

c. taboo

d. value contradiction

d. value contradiction

32\. Which statement about the origin of values is true?

a. Essentially, values “just happen.” b. Values are unrelated to context in society.

c. Values emerge out of the conditions that exist in a society.

d. Individuals invent their own values.

c. Values emerge out of the conditions that exist in a society.

33\. Values are like lenses through which we see the world __________.

a. in a nutshell

b. as it ought to be

c. with great clarity

d. like it is

b. as it ought to be

34\. The __________ culture refers to the values, norms, and goals that a group considers worth aiming for.

a. real

b. concrete

c. ideal

d. fantasy

c. ideal

35\. The human potential movement exemplifies the emerging __________ value.

a. self-fulfillment

b. aging population

c. leisure

d. acceptance

a. self-fulfillment

36\. The term “real culture” refers to __________.

a. the norms and values that people aspire to follow

b. historical culture

c. universal culture

d. the norms and values that people actually follow

d. the norms and values that people actually follow

37\. __________ refer(s) to values, norms, or other cultural traits found everywhere.

a. Cultural universals

b. Global culture

c. Natural selection

d. Folkways

a. Cultural universals

38\. Which statement about incest is true?

a. No society permits general incest for all its members.

b. All societies agree on what incest is.

c. The marriage of brothers and sisters is forbidden by all societies.

d. The marriage of fathers and daughters is forbidden by all societies.

a. No society permits general incest for all its members.

39\. Sociobiologists believe that __________.

a. biology is a basic cause of human behavior

b. the key to human behavior is culture

c. as a result of natural selection, biology no longer plays a role in human behavior

d. the key to human behavior is religion

a. biology is a basic cause of human behavior

40\. __________ said that sociobiology will eventually absorb

sociology.

a. Charles Darwin

b. Edward Wilson

c. William Ogburn

d. Benjamin Whorf

b. Edward Wilson

1\. According to reports describing __________ children, they walked on all fours, growled, and showed no sensitivity to cold.

a. prehistoric

b. feral

c. isolated

d. institutionalized

b. feral

2\. __________ intrigue sociological researchers, particularly those separated at birth.

a. Quadruplets

b. Feral children

c. Twins

d. Laboratory animals

c. Twins

3\. Isolated children require __________ to develop.

a. parents

b. siblings

c. solitary time

d. language

d. language

4\. Apparently, having a reasonable level of __________ depends on early, close relations with other people.

a. artistic ability

b. intelligence

c. health

d. physical coordination

b. intelligence

5\. After several years of foster care, children in the study in Bucharest (discussed in the text) had __________ brain cells than children who stayed in the orphanage.

a. more

b. fewer

c. smaller

d. different-shaped

a. more

6\. The Harlows took baby monkeys away from their mothers to live alone, frightened them, and observed that the babies clung to terrycloth fake mothers rather than wire fake mothers. The experiment intended to prove what might already have been obvious—that infants need to be __________.

a. frightened

b. experimental subjects

c. cuddled

d. intimately familiar with fear

c. cuddled

7\. The term __________ was coined by Charles Horton Cooley.

a. looking-glass self

b. a stitch in time

c. significant other

d. precocious child

a. looking-glass self

8\. When is the development of self-concept finished?

a. Childhood

b. Adolescence

c. Middle adulthood

d. Never

d. Never

9\. George Herbert Mead was a(n) __________.

a. symbolic interactionist

b. conflict theorist

c. feral child

d. economist

a. symbolic interactionist

10\. Mead stressed that we cannot think without __________, and that __________ gives us our symbols (language).

a. society; reading

b. symbols; reading

c. symbols; society

d. society; instinct

c. symbols; society

11\. The term “generalized other” refers to __________.

a. our ideal of a person

b. what we think others in general think of us

c. role models

d. the certainty that no one likes us

b. what we think others in general think of us

12\. __________ studied the natural process that children go

through to develop their ability to reason.

a. Piaget

b. Cooley

c. Flavel

d. Mead

a. Piaget

13\. The most basic of Piaget’s developmental stages is the __________ stage.

a. preoperational

b. sensorimotor

c. concrete operational

d. formal operational

b. sensorimotor

14\. Psychoanalysis was developed by __________.

a. Margaret and Harry Harlow

b. Lawrence Kohlberg

c. Sigmund Freud

d. Charles Horton Cooley

c. Sigmund Freud

In Freud’s terms, the __________ causes us to get our basic needs met.

a. id

b. ego

c. superego

d. instinctual drive

a. id

16\. The __________, as viewed by Freud, is the balancing mechanism in our personality.

a. id

b. ego

c. superego

d. conscience

b. ego

17\. In Freud’s terms, internalized culture is represented by the __________.

a. alter ego

b. super-id

c. psychosis

d. superego

d. superego

18\. According to Lawrence Kohlberg, when children have learned “right” from “wrong” and cooperate to avoid punishment, they are in the __________ stage.

a. preconventional

b. amoral

c. conventional

d. complicit

a. preconventional

19\. In Kohlberg’s theory, children in the __________ stage are basically concerned just with themselves and do not seem to know the difference between right and wrong.

a. id

b. preconventional

c. postconventional

d. amoral

d. amoral

20\. Paul Ekman would say __________ is one of the universal emotions.

a. surprise

b. certainty

c. love

d. confusion

a. surprise